Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World: The Age of Reform and Revolution, 1700–1850 Edited by Richard Harding and Agustín Guimerá Published by University of Westminster Press 101 Cavendish Street London W1W 6XH www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk Text © several editors and contributors 2017 First published 2017 Cover design by Diana Jarvis Cover image Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library, USA Printed in the UK by Lightning Source Ltd. Print and digital versions typeset by Siliconchips Services Ltd. ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-911534-08-2 ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-911534-76-1 ISBN (PDF): 978-1-911534-09-9 ISBN (EPUB): 978-1-911534-10-5 ISBN (Mobi/Kindle): 978-1-911534-11-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/book2 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Interna- tional License (unless stated otherwise within the content of the work). 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License: CC-BY 4.0 To read the free, open access version of this book online, visit https://doi.org/10.16997/book2 or scan this QR code with your mobile device: Dedicated to the memory of Professor Colin White (1951–2008), Director of the Royal Navy Museum Portsmouth (2006–08): a scholar and great enthusiast in the study of naval leadership Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World: The Age of Revolution and Reform, 1700–1850 Richard Harding and Agustín Guimerá (editors) Contents Foreword ix Contributors xi Part One. Naval Leadership: A Voyage of Discovery 1 Introduction: Naval Leadership in the Age of Reform and Revolution, 1700–1850 (Richard Harding and Agustín Guimerá) 3 1. The Royal Navy, History and the Study of Leadership (Richard Harding) 9 Part Two. Naval Leadership in the Ancien Régime 19 2. Leadership Networks and the Effectiveness of the British Royal Navy in the Mid-Eighteenth Century (Richard Harding) 21 3. The Reputation of Louis XV’s Vice-Admirals of France (Simon Surreaux) 35 4. Types of Naval Leadership in the Eighteenth Century (Michael Duffy) 49 5. Naval Leadership in a ‘Fleet in Being’: The Spanish Navy and ‘Armed Neutrality’ in the Mid-Eighteenth Century (Catherine Scheybeler) 59 6. Admiral Louis Guillouet, Comte d’Orvilliers (1710–92): A Style of Command in the Age of the American War (Olivier Chaline) 73 7. Le Bailli Pierre-André de Suffren: A Precursor of Nelson (Rémi Monaque) 85 viii Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World Part Three. Naval Leadership and the French Revolution, 1789–1850 93 Introduction: Naval Leadership and the French Revolution (Richard Harding and Agustín Guimerá) 95 8. Leadership in the French Navy during the Revolution and Empire. The Optimist and the Pessimist: Louis-René de Latouche-Tréville (1745–1804) and Pierre Charles de Villeneuve (1763–1806) (Rémi Monaque) 99 9. Admiral Antonio Barceló, 1716–97: A Self-Made Naval Leader (Agustín Ramón Rodríguez González) 107 10. Naval Leadership and the ‘Art of War’: John Jervis and José de Mazarredo Compared (1797–9) (Agustín Guimerá) 117 11. Luis María de Salazar, Ángel Laborde and the Defence of Cuba, 1825–29: A Study in Combined Leadership (Carlos Alfaro Zaforteza) 131 12. Napier, Palmerston and Palmella in 1833: The Unofficial Arm of British Diplomacy (Andrew Lambert) 141 Afterword 157 Notes 165 Index 193 Foreword Vice-Admiral Sir Adrian Johns KCB CBE DL Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command (2005–8) Governor and Commander-in-Chief Gibraltar (2009–13) President of the Navy Records Society I recall only too well the impact of the Practical Leadership Tests we suffered as young officers at Dartmouth. We thought then that leadership was all about self-projection, generating a sense of urgency and taking care of the team. But we soon learned that real leadership came into play when things went wrong. How many times do we hear today that failure is the result of a lack of leader- ship? Often perhaps, but that may be a simplistic conclusion and there are two truisms worth bearing in mind: no plan survives first contact with the enemy; and everything in war is simple but the simplest things are often the most dif- ficult to achieve. This collection of essays sprang out of a conference held at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in 2011 and provides an illuminating insight into naval leadership during a period of significant historical turbulence. Those in command at sea at that time enjoyed very limited communications and intel- ligence that often extended not much further than the visual horizon. Leaders had to rely on their own raw initiative and judgement in a very different way from today’s commanders in this globally networked world. But while in practical terms leadership may be exercised rather differently today, the insights offered in these essays point to enduring themes and a better understanding of a complex subject. I am delighted that this collection is dedicated to the memory of Professor Colin White, sadly departed but an old friend and an inspiring naval historian. He would have approved! Contributors Dr Carlos Alfaro Zaforteza (King’s College, London) is a visiting research fellow at the Department of War Studies. He completed his PhD thesis there in 2011, on Sea Power, State and Society in Liberal Spain, 1833–1868. He has published on Spanish naval history in American, British and Spanish scholarly journals and edited books. He is also co-author of the book European Navies and the Conduct of War (Routledge, forthcoming). Professor Olivier Chaline (Université de Sorbonne, Paris IV) is a French modernist historian. He has held professorships at the University of Rennes II (1999–2001) and the University of Paris IV (Paris-Sorbonne), a post he has held since 2001. He is Director of the Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Historical Research and Head of the international research program about Admiral de Grasse’s fleet. Dr Michael Duffy (University of Exeter) has retired from his positions as Head of History and Director of the Centre for Maritime Studies at Exeter University but remains a University Fellow and is presently Vice-President of the Navy Records Society. He was the Editor of The Mariner’s Mirror: The Journal of the Society for Nautical Research throughout the 1990s. His books on naval subjects include The Military Revolution and the State 1500–1800 (1980), Soldiers, Sugar and Seapower (1987), Parameters of British Naval Power 1650–1850 (1992), The New Maritime History of Devon (1992, 1994) edited with S. Fisher, B. Greenhill, D. Starkey and J. Youings, The Glorious First of June: A Naval Battle and its xii Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World Aftermath (2003) edited with R. Morriss, Touch and Take: The Battle of Trafal- gar (2005) and, with R. Mackay, Hawke, Nelson and British Naval Leadership in the Age of Sail 1747–1805 (2009). Dr Agustín Guimerá (Instituto de Historia, Consejo Superior de Investiga- ciones Científicas, Madrid) is the author of numerous studies of comparative naval leadership, including: ‘Métodos de liderazgo naval en una época revolu- cionaria: Mazarredo y Jervis (1779–1808),’ in Manuel Reyes García-Hurtado, Domingo L. González-Lopo and Enrique Martínez-Rodríguez, eds., El mar en los siglos modernos (Santiago de Compostela: Xunta de Galicia, 2009), vol. 2, 221–33; Agustín Guimerá and José María Blanco Núñez, eds., Guerra naval en la Revolución y el Imperio (Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia, 2008); Agustín Guimerá and Víctor Peralta, El Equilibrio de los Imperios: de Utrecht a Trafalgar (Madrid: FEHM, 2005). Professor Richard Harding (University of Westminster) is Professor of Organ- isational History and Head of the Department of Leadership and Professional Development at the University of Westminster. His recent works include Mod- ern Naval History: Debates and Prospects (London: Bloomsbury Press, 2015); The Emergence of Britain’s Global Naval Supremacy: The War of 1739–1748 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2010), Naval Leadership and Management, 1650– 1950 (Boydell Press, 2012) (edited with Helen Doe), A Great and Glorious Vic- tory: New Perspectives on the Battle of Trafalgar (Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2008). Professor Andrew Lambert (King’s College, London) is Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies at King’s College, Lon- don, and Director of the Laughton Naval History unit housed in the depart- ment. His work focuses on the naval and strategic history of the British Empire between the Napoleonic Wars and the First World War. His books include: The Crimean War: British Grand Strategy against Russia 1853–1856 (Manchester: 1990), ‘The Foundations of Naval History’: Sir John Laughton, the Royal Navy and the Historical Profession (London: 1997), Nelson: Britannia’s God of War (London: 2004), Admirals (London: 2008), Franklin: Tragic Hero of Polar Navi- gation (London: 2009) and The Challenge: Britain versus America in the Naval War of 1812 (London: 2012), which won the Anderson Medal of the Society for Nautical Research for the best maritime history book of that year. Contre-Amiral Rémi Monaque (Marine française) is a rear Admiral (retired) of the French navy. Since 1992, he has devoted all his time to naval history research. His main books are: Latouche-Tréville, l’amiral qui défiait Nelson , Trafalgar , Suffren, un destin inachevé and, recently published, Une histoire de la marine de guerre française . He published several articles in The Mariner’s Contributors xiii Mirror and was a co-author of The Trafalgar Companion published by Alexan- der Stilwell in 2005. Dr. Agustín Ramón Rodríguez González is a member of the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, Spain. His works on the eighteenth-century Span- ish navy include ‘Los españoles en Trafalgar: Navíos, cañones, hombres y una alianza problemática’, in Agustín Guimerá, Alberto Ramos and Gonzalo Butrón, eds., Trafalgar y el mundo atlántico (Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia, 2004); Trafalgar y el conflicto naval anglo-español del siglo XVIII (San Sebastián de los Reyes: Actas, 2005); ‘Las innovaciones artilleras y tácticas españolas en la campaña de Trafalgar,’ in XXXI Congreso Internacional de Historia Militar (Madrid, 21–27 Agosto 2005 ) (Madrid: Ministerio de Defensa, 2006); Victorias por mar de los españoles (Madrid: Grafite Ediciones, 2006); ‘Cádiz en la estrate- gia naval de la Guerra de la Independencia, 1808–1814’, in Agustín Guimerá and José M. Blanco (coords.), Guerra naval en la Revolución y el Imperio: Blo- queos y operaciones anfibias, 1793–1815 (Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia, 2008); ‘La Marina Ilustrada: Reflexiones sobre su eficacia combativa’, in Manuel R. García-Hurtado, ed., La Armada española en el siglo XVIII. Ciencia, hombres y barcos (Madrid: Sílex, 2012); ‘Les objectifs de la marine espagnole,’ in Olivier Chaline, Philippe Bonnichon and Charles-Philippe de Vergennes (dir.), Les marines de la Guerre d’Independance américaine (1763–1783). I. L’instrument naval (Paris: PUF, 2013). Dr Catherine Scheybeler worked at the travel and exploration department of Bernard Quaritch, Antiquarian Booksellers, Ltd., from 2005 to 2009. For two of these years she studied for an MA in the History of Warfare at the War Studies Department of King’s College, London, passing with a distinction before con- tinuing on to complete a full-time PhD in War Studies in 2014. Her thesis was on Spanish naval policy during the reign of Ferdinand VI (1746–59). Since her PhD, Catherine has written Africana: A Distant Journey into Unknown Lands. The Paolo Bianchi Collection of Works on the Exploration of Africa up to the Year 1900 (Shapero, 2014). Professor Simon Surreaux (Centre Roland Mousnier), agrégé de l’Université , PhD in History, researcher associated with the Centre Roland Mousnier (Paris- Sorbonne University), has taught in Paris IV-Sorbonne University and Charles De Gaulle-Lille 3. Since September 2014, he has been Professor in preparatory classes to business schools in France, in Lyon and Saint-Etienne. Besides many articles on the place and role of the marshals of France of the Enlightenment in the cultural, political, diplomatic and military domains, he participated, supervised by Professor Lucien Bély, in the Dictionary Louis XIV (Paris: Robert Laffont, 2015). He published in particular: Les maréchaux de France des Lumières. Histoire et dictionnaire d’une élite militaire sous l’Ancien xiv Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World Régime (Paris: SPM-L’Harmattan, 2013). ‘Aimez-moi autant que je vous aime’. Correspondance de la duchesse de Fitz-James 1757–1771 (Paris: Vendémiaire, 2013). His PhD thesis, defended at Paris-Sorbonne University in 2011 on Les maréchaux de France au XVIIIe siècle. Histoire sociale, politique et culturelle d’une élite militaire , received the Daniel and Michel Dezés of the Fondation de France prize in March 2012. His research interests are political and institu- tional, military and naval, diplomatic and cultural history in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. PA RT O N E Naval Leadership: A Voyage of Discovery INTRODUCTION Naval Leadership in the Age of Reform and Revolution, 1700–1850 Richard Harding* and Agustín Guimerá † *University of Westminster † Instituto de Historia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid In 1995 Rear Admiral James Goldrick called for historians of modern navies to analyse ‘much more comprehensively the multitude of technological, financial and operational issues involved in decision-making for naval development’. In doing so he called for these historians to replicate the technical mastery of the subject that he felt ‘has hitherto largely been confined to students of the age of sail’. 1 While this reflected the relative interest in the context of naval decision- making displayed by historians of different periods, there was one aspect in which the level of mastery was possibly reversed – that of naval leadership. Today, leadership is one of the most contested aspects of organisational behaviour and analysis. It is a subject of intense study for psychologists, soci- ologists, anthropologists, political scientists and, to a lesser degree, historians. The academic discussions concerning definitions, sources of leadership power, its distribution and its meaning resonate far beyond these disciplines into cul- tural studies, other social discourses and the wider public domains of policy, politics, business and entertainment. 2 How to cite this book chapter: Harding, R and Guimerá, A. 2017. Introduction: Naval Leadership in the Age of Reform and Revolution, 1700–1850. In: Harding, R and Guimerá, A (eds.). Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World. Pp. 3–7. London: University of Westminster Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/book2.a. License: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 4 Naval Leadership in the Atlantic World Whether it is ethics, organisational efficiency and effectiveness, interna- tional relations or general social relations, the word ‘leadership’ is seldom far from the centre of the debate. Better, more effective, more authentic leader- ship is almost always presented as at least part of the answer to the problems posed. For individuals, personal development often has the sub-text of becom- ing leaders in one shape or another. Lack of leadership is presented as the contemporary problem, becoming a leader is the driving ambition for right- minded people and good leadership is the panacea. The process by which this term has become so embedded in Western social relations is far from being understood. Even the first steps towards this understanding are faltering in as much as the definition of leadership mutates in different contexts and socie- ties. Like so many other terms that underpin modern social discourses, the meaning of leadership and its practice runs a gamut of interpretation, from those who insist it is a special form of activity that can only be understood by highly trained or encultured specialists to those who see its performance as little more than everyday activity in particular circumstances. 3 Military organisations are far from immune from this contemporary con- cern. Indeed, the reverse might be true – they are particularly enthralled with understanding the concept. The quality of leadership lies at the heart of their perceptions of success and failure, organisational design and the real, lived experience of the members of those forces. Challenges from the battlefield to the budget settlements have implications for the practice and theory of leader- ship. Thus, for the general public and military organisations there is no lack of advice or publications on the theme. Historians have contributed their share to the outpouring of work on leader- ship, and naval historians have never lagged behind. In 2005, the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar was commemorated in Britain in a public manner which no individual battle (except, perhaps, the Battle of Britain in 1940) has known in the last fifty years. Central to this was the figure of Horatio Lord Nelson (1758–1805), the great hero-leader who died at the moment of his greatest victory, which, in the public’s imagination at least, saved Britain from immi- nent invasion by the French Emperor Napoleon. The bicentenary provided the occasion to burst many myths, including that of imminent invasion. Equally important was the chance to review the leadership of the nations and fleets that were involved in the battle. The essays, books and conference proceedings that emerged from that commemoration did a great deal to cause historians to rethink the idea of leadership in the early nineteenth-century navies. What became obvious was that far from the last word having been said on naval lead- ership, there were many aspects of the phenomenon that had been glossed over, encrusted with nationalist myth or lost in the passage of time. One result of this was the convening of an international conference at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, in December 2011. It brought together speakers from Spain, France and Britain to discuss naval Naval Leadership in the Age of Reform and Revolution, 1700–1850 5 leadership in the period from 1700 to 1850. They explored the subject from the level of national policy to tactical command. This collection of essays emerged from that first exchange of views. They are not the proceedings of the confer- ence. Some essays have been modified as a result of discussions and subsequent research, and another has been added as a result of lacunae that were identified at the conference. However, they do represent the balance of views, writing and interests that were evident at that gathering. They provide insights into how navies operated in a period of long-term, high-intensity global conflict. They show how important it was for navies to be integrated into the political con- text of their host societies. The reputation of naval officers, their contacts with political elites and how navies are deployed are subjects covered by Surreaux, Chaline, Harding and Scheybeler. At sea the admirals were usually isolated from these domestic pressures (although as the study of d’Orvilliers shows, traditional social relations were not left behind at the shoreline). These offic- ers commanded great power in the form of the fleets they led. Their decisions could have huge consequences for the societies to which they owed allegiance. Their performances were judged by contemporaries and became part of the historical narrative of nations. The essays on Mazarredo, Suffren, Barceló, Sala- zar and Napier all pose different questions as to how this behaviour has been interpreted and integrated into the traditional national narratives. Here we see very different approaches to command in relation to subordinates, relations with the political masters and, crucially, in the face of the enemy. Taken as a whole, what do these essays tell us? The essays focus on a period of major change. During the eighteenth century, navies became one of the main vehicles of geopolitical and economic strategy for European states extending their influence on a global scale. The range, robustness and impact of navies across the world expanded tremendously. Navies were very much at the forefront of the technological and organisational shifts that accompanied this phase of European expansionism. In July 1789 one of the defining events of European history occurred with the outbreak of the French Revolution. By 1792 the French naval officer corps had all but crumbled in the wake of the revolutionary upheavals and Europe was plunged into 23 years of intense, almost non-stop warfare. During this time the impact of the revolution was felt not just in Europe but in South America and the Caribbean as well. The independence and reform movements led to bloody civil wars in which navies played important, even decisive, parts. Some of these essays shed light on how states reacted to the demands of maritime and naval power before 1789. Others look at how naval commanders performed in the long wars that succeeded 1792. What they all show is that although there was a common understanding of how wars at sea should be fought, there were distinct dif- ferences between states and commanders as they had to respond to different conditions. There are clear comparisons at one level, but the contrasts are just as informative.